The pits
were full to overflowing two hours before the start of the meeting, the weather
was fantastic, and a good crowd was on hand.

And the
action at Supercheap Auto Oceanview Family Speedway lived up to the
expectations, despite the two feature events being dominated by two drivers.

1NZ
Christian Hermansen proved his second New Zealand Minisprint title was no
fluke. “The Hermanator” was in outstanding form, winning a third consecutive
New Zealand Minisprint Grand Prix.

A win and a
second place in his heats put Hermansen on pole position for the 20-lap final.
Alongside him was the impressive Lydia Dickinson (75S).

93P Karl
McGill lowered his own lap record to 13.78 en route to the second row of the
grid, which he shared with 44P Glen McCutcheon.

Hermansen
blasted away from the start, and was quickly up to pace. His 3rd and
4th laps both shattered the lap record, now 13.66 seconds, as he
showed blistering speed whilst the track held some moisture.

As the laps
counted down there was a series of incidents. McGill got caught up trying to
lap Cameron Hurley (82V) and almost rolled. His race was over.

McCutcheon
then fell by the wayside, and Ben Vaughn (57H) had to go to the back of the
field while challenging for a podium position.

After
several restarts, Hermansen took the win from Dickinson, with 8P Nathan
Jeffries in third place.

Hermansen
had a number of issues with his new car early in the season, but has put those
behind them. At prizegiving, he paid tribute to his crew chief father Mike,
engines builders Bryan and Nelson Hartley and Mike Robins from Terminator Race
Cars.

A massive
field of 29 Stockcars started the first heat of the Charlie Berntsen Trophy,
and predictably, it didn’t take long for carnage to break out. 33V Trazarn
Ryland-Annabell fired 61V Dion Black into the wall on the back straight rolling
Black’s car.

Defending
Charlie Berntsen Trophy-holder Francis Potaka was an early casualty, along with
other good prospects including 15V Callum Sturzaker, 9V Chet Swan and 882P
Brandon Jurgeleit. Less than half the field finished the first heat which was
won by Dion Mooney (6V) from 78V Mark Johnston and 22V Scooter McIntosh.

The second
heat was a more orderly affair with Darryl Taylor taking the win in Trevor
Greig’s 81V car from 53V Mason James and the ever-present Mooney.

After two
heats Mooney had a one point lead over Taylor. McIntosh was another two points
further back, closely followed by James and Johnston.

The third
heat was another torrid affair. 19P Aidan Pond was left stranded against the
wall at the southern end on the first lap, and as the leaders came round again,
772P Kyle Lampp ran wide and slammed into Pond’s car.

That set off
a chain reaction which caught out Johnston. Clipping a car as he tried to avoid
the mayhem, Johnston finished on his side, and out of the running. It was the
second time in two meetings that Johnston had been rolled at that spot!

In the
meantime Mooney drove a stealth mission to reach the front. Lampp killed
James’s chances by blocking him for a lap and a half, and as the laps counted
down Jurgeleit put in a massive hit on Taylor, slowing the 81V car.

Mooney took
the race win, from McIntosh in second place and 7V Damon Baxter in third.
Taylor limped home in fifth place.

When the
points were tallied Mooney had won The Charlie with 85 points. McIntosh
finished second on 81 points and Taylor had done enough to finish third, a
point further back.

Receiving
the trophy from Berntsen’s widow Ann, Mooney told the crowd in the clubrooms it
was his second time winning the event. He regards this one as more special
however, given that Big Bad Charlie is no longer around.

In the
Superstocks, 29V Clint Hill, 4V Chad Ace and 471P Daniel Hole shared the
victories. 86S Bradley Korff was dominant in the Adult Ministocks, with three
wins from three.

North Island
Champion Grant Loveridge (7V) won the opening Production Saloon race, but had
to bow to 71V Jason Pointon in the next two races.

And in the
Youth Ministocks, another Mooney starred. After coming a close second to 7P
Louis Redshaw in the opening race, 26V Kaelin Mooney took the second race by a
mere 0.02 seconds from 21P Cody Hodge, and added the feature race as well.

Given the
hot weather conditions, the track was in superb condition, a credit to the
track crew led by Mike Annabell. That allowed some fantastic racing in all
classes, with the crowd going home happy.

Racing at
Oceanview Family Speedway resumes on Sunday 11th March at 3pm with
the running of the West Coast Sidecars, and the Heiby Memorial Youth
Ministocks.